We are now in race week! This Saturday, 11th October, it's the biggest and most famous long-distance triathlon in the world: the The Ford Ironman World Championship - Kona, Hawaii. We'll be bringing your our Kona diary, with updates, news and gossip from the event, including updates from the Brits who are out there racing.

Are you a Brit in Kona? If so, let us know how you are feeling in the days before the race! You can contact us on editor@tri247.com and we'll let your supporters back home know how you are preparing.

First to check in with us is none other than GB Pro Scott Neyedli. Scott of course is an Ironman winner (Ironman UK 2007), and he secured his Kona spot with a second place at Ironman UK this year. Here are his thoughts on Kona 2008:

"Aloha! My ambitions are really just to improve on last years position (31st), I trained specifically to peak for the UK event this year and with the UK Ironman two weeks later in the season making the two races four weeks apart doesn't give you much time to prepare when you take your recovery and taper periods out of that time.

Preparation has simply been been that... recover from the UK Ironman try get back into light training to get some fitness back and then tick over and rest again for Kona.

My hopes If I have a good day I guess would be to improve on last season and make top 20 / top 15 - I'm not going in with any expectations, just race and see what happens and build on my pro experience. Looking long term, it was always my intension to aim specifically for Kona come 2009, this I see as bonus race and learning experience for the future races to come.

Since UK Ironman I traveled over to San Diego for 2 weeks of training (building into training), and met the rest of the Dresdner Kleinwort team (Norman Stadler team captain, Mathias Hecht, Maiki Tweisliek, Marino Vanoekanker), in their six week preparation camp. Going over to the West Coast earlier should acclimatise myself better to the heat, food and time zone acclimation compared to the last two years travelling out six days before (2006 amateur / 2007 1st pro start there).

All in all I'm looking forward Ironman Hawaii, it is the pinnacle of triathlon like the Tour de France is in cycling and what you put the hours of training in for."

Scotty